Duty
by thelegendofappa
Summary: Toph's duty drives them apart, but Sokka has a plan to fix that.


"How about tonight?" Sokka asked hopefully, trailing behind Toph at the Police Department.

"Can't. Busy." Toph replied, striding towards her office.

"Tomorrow morning?"

"Nope."

"Tomorrow night?"

"Meeting." Toph explained. Sokka slumped his shoulders, following her into her office.

Sokka leaned against the door frame while Toph took a seat at her desk, running the tips of her fingers over various documents to read them. Since coming to Republic City, Toph had learned reading and writing through braille. She thought it was a dumb thing to learn, but Katara had convinced her, since becoming Chief of Police involved a _lot_ of paperwork.

"The day after tomorrow?" Sokka suggested weakly. Toph narrowed her eyes and pointed to them.

"Am I doing this right Captain Meathead? I'm trying to glare at you." Toph explained in an exasperated tone.

"I'm sorry Toph, it's just that I've hardly seen you for over a month," Sokka made a face. "And Katara's pregnant, so she gets these real _awful_ mood swings where she waterbends ice at me when I try to come around."

Toph sighed deeply, hung her head and pinched the bridge of her nose tightly. Sokka walked around to the back of her chair, massaging her shoulders.

Toph lifted her head. "I'm sorry Sokka. But I barely have time to sleep, let alone spend time with anyone." Her light green eyes were lined with bags and filled with exhaustion.

"I'm 19. Everyone's expecting me to screw up, so I have to work my butt off to prove them wrong. I can't slip up now." she exhaled, closing her eyes.

It bothered Sokka that his girlfriend was under so much pressure and he wasn't able to make it all go away, to make her smile again like she used to before becoming Chief of Police.

"Is there anything I can do to help?" Sokka asked hopefully. Toph shook her head and waved her hand towards the door.

"You should go Sokka. You're only going to distract me."

"Oh," Sokka spoke, trying to hide the hurt in his voice. "Okay. I'll just…go."

Sokka moodily stepped out of the Chief of Police's office. He knew it wasn't Toph's fault that she had a duty to Republic City, but that didn't make it hurt any less.

Sokka wandered the streets of the city, not really knowing what to do. He thought about going to get some food, but found that he wasn't really hungry.

He sat on a bench on the street corner, watching all the people walk by, hand in with their significant others. Sokka sighed, thinking about how that's how he and Toph should be together. Not with her busy with work all night and him waiting up for her.

Suddenly, he heard the loud obnoxious laughter of two middle-aged men leaving the shifty-looking store behind him. They were both pink in the face and were holding bottles that were covered with brown paper bags. The pair stumbled through the streets, holding onto each other for support.

Sokka chuckled softly at the obviously drunk men. They seemed like they were having fun. It reminded him of when he drank some cactus juice in the Si Wong Desert and experienced some…interesting hallucinations.

Then it hit him. The greatest idea to ever have occurred to him popped into his brain. With a mischievous grin, he got up from the bench and strode into the shop, ready for a night of fun.

Past midnight, Toph walked into the flat she shared with Sokka. She set her things down on the table in the hallway. She dragged herself to her bedroom to metalbend her armor off. Toph traveled back to the kitchen where she knew that Sokka would be passed out on the table from waiting up for her with a cup of cold tea sitting out for her.

But when she entered the kitchen, she felt Sokka's heartbeat through the earth, and it was much faster than a sleeping person's should be.

"Hey *hic* Toph!" Sokka's deep voice boomed. Toph flared her nostrils and the strong smell of cactus juice invaded them.

"Sokka," Toph moaned. "You _didn_'t."

Sokka grinned stupidly. "I did! Come here babe, try this." On any other night, Toph would've earthbended him to the ground for calling her "babe" but she forgave him due to his intoxication.

"C'mon Captain Boomerang; I'm taking you to bed." She gripped the top of his arm and tried to drag him out of his chair. But Toph often forgets that Sokka is no longer a scrawny boy who she can easily push around. He's a grown man and now weighs about five tons, much to Toph's annoyance.

"Nooooooooo," Sokka groaned, weakly struggling from her grip and chugging some more cactus juice. Toph swiped the bottle out of his hands.

"Do you wanna give yourself brain damage Meathead? This is some powerful stuff. I could have you arrested for this." Toph warned, trying to keep the bottle out of his reach, which was difficult because he was much taller than her.

"I'll…I'llstawpdrinkingifyou*hic*doitwitmeh." Sokka slurred.

Toph sighed. "You're drunk. And I can't afford to wake up with a hangover tomorrow; I have work."

"Toph," Sokka pouted and his lower lip quivered. "Please. I've…I've been so lonely ever since you started working all the time and..and…"

Sokka burst into tears and threw his arms around Toph, soaking her tank top with his tears.

"I m-miss you Toph!" Sokka blubbered. Toph shook her head, internally conflicted. She couldn't deny that she felt guilty for ignoring Sokka so much, but she wasn't quite sure that the way to make it up to him was to get drunk.

But then again, since becoming Chief of Police, Toph had missed her shenanigans with Sokka. One night couldn't hurt, right?

"Okay." Toph gave in, pushing Sokka off of her. "I'll drink with you."

"Ohmyspiritstophiloveyousomuc h." Sokka mumbled, clumsily kissing her forehead. He passed her the bottle. Toph furrowed her brow while Sokka watched her with anticipation.

"Here goes nothing." Toph muttered, shrugging her shoulders. She threw her head back and swallowed a mouthful. The alcoholic beverage burned pleasantly down her throat and settled in her stomach like molten lava. Toph coughed for a moment until she got used to it.

She had only had alcohol once before on her 18th birthday. She was of the legal age, but Katara had only allowed her to drink some light champagne. She hadn't even gotten tipsy.

She passed the bottle back to Sokka who drank half of what remained easily. He slammed the bottle down on the table and leaned across it to get right in her face.

"Beat _that_." Sokka challenged. Toph smirked. She grabbed the bottle and let the rest pour down her throat. Her head started swimming, not used to having that much at once.

Sokka furrowed his brow in confusion. He reached out to grope Toph's head.

"Toph? Why are you *hic* on fire?" Toph chuckled, swatting his hands away. She wasn't hallucinating like Sokka, but bright and vivid colors burst in the darkness of her sight. This wasn't so bad.

Sokka had bought two more bottles of cactus juice, which they both consumed. Somehow they bad both ended up on the floor, laughing so hard that Toph thought she might have broken a rib. Because when you drink cactus juice, suddenly _everything's_ funny.

Toph was roaring with laughter on her back, rolling back and forth holding her sides with tears streaming down her face over something hilarious Sokka said. Sokka crawled over to where Toph was and pressed a clumsy kiss to her lips. Toph was surprised, but the cactus juice was making her feel all tingly and nice so she kissed him back.

They broke apart and the two of them were both pink in the face. Sokka's eyes were strangely focused as he looked at Toph.

"You look *hic* pretty." Sokka mumbled. Toph blinked, then grinned, pushing him off of her and sitting up.

"You're *hic* drunk." Toph pointed out.

"So are you, Miss Chief of Police." Sokka countered.

"Touche," Toph acknowledged, taking another swig from the bottle. Her faded eyes were half-open and she had a slight smile on her face. All of a sudden, her eyes widened and she slapped her forehead, groaning.

"Oh no," Toph moaned. "I have *hic* work tomorrow and I'm so *hic* _drunk_."

"It's okay," Sokka consoled, playing with a piece of her wayward hair that had escaped her bun. "I called your work and told them you couldn't make it tomorrow."

"What?!" Toph shrieked. "I can't *hic* take a day off work! There's stuff I need to get done and investigations I need to oversee and *hic* oh my spirits what if the Agni Kai Triad tries to-"

Sokka cut her off with a kiss. He felt all the tension leave her body instantly. When they pulled apart, the stress in Toph's face had disappeared, replaced by a calm that Sokka had not seen in months.

"It's okay," Sokka assured her quietly, brushing a piece of hair out of her eyes. "It's okay not to be on top of everything all the time. It's okay to admit that you're tired. It's okay to spend time with the people you love." Toph sighed, drinking some more from the bottle.

"Maybe you're right." Her eyelids fluttered, almost closing. "I'm sleepy."

Sokka smiled, prying the bottle out of her hand and picking her up, bridal style. Toph feebly attempted to twist out of his arms.

"I can walk myself to bed, Snoozles." she protested.

"At this point, I'm afraid you'll walk yourself into a wall."

They arrived at their bedroom and Sokka set Toph down. She fell asleep instantly, snoring loudly. Sokka didn't even care, because as soon as his head hit the pillow, he did the same, dreaming of all the infinite possibilities that his day with Toph tomorrow were filled with.


End file.
